Movement Mortgage, a top 10 national retail mortgage lender, is excited to announce the launch of Movement Comunidad, an initiative to better serve and equip loan officers serving Hispanic communities and Spanish-speaking homebuyers across the U.S.

Movement Comunidad brings together a pilot group of existing Spanish-speaking loan officers, a dedicated operations team and marketing materials in Spanish. The pilot program is being offered through select Movement branches in Houston, Denver, and Charlotte, N.C., and is expected to expand to additional markets in the future.

Movement is launching the program with loan officers, underwriters and processors who are fluent in Spanish. It has also collaborated with a number of Realtors and Total Expert, the mortgage industry's leading marketing operations system, to equip Movement Comunidad loan officers with a suite of marketing tools developed in Spanish and designed to meet the needs of the Hispanic community.

A series of roundtable meetings between Hispanic loan officers, Realtors, industry professionals and homebuyers is also planned to further develop the program and meet the needs of the Spanish-speaking community.

"The Hispanic community is one of the fastest-growing segments of the housing economy, and it is our privilege to help shepherd their dreams of homeownership," says Movement Mortgage Chief Commercial Officer Michelle Donnelly, who is leading the pilot. "This is an important opportunity for Movement to better equip our loan officers and the homebuyers they serve."

In 2017, about 7.4 million Hispanic Americans owned a home, an increase of 167,000 from 2016, according to NAHREP. Hispanics are the only demographic to have increased their rate of homeownership for the last three consecutive years. However, Hispanic Americans continue to trail the overall homeownership rate. In 2017, the Hispanic homeownership rate tallied 46.2 percent, compared to 63.9 percent overall in the U.S.

"Serving our Hispanic communities represents an honor and privilege to help more families become homeowners," says Movement Mortgage CEO Casey Crawford. "Throughout history, owning a home has helped millions of families build wealth, stability and community. We're hopeful that Movement Comunidad will lower the barrier to homeownership for many more families."Homebuyers interested in Movement Comunidad can begin their journey here.